Federal health market surpasses 1 million signups

HONOLULU (AP) - The Obama administration says that following a December surge more than 1.1 million people have now enrolled for health insurance through the federal government's improved website.

Nearly 1 million signed up this month through the federal exchange serving 36 states before the Dec. 24 deadline to enroll for coverage to start in January. Compare that to a paltry 27,000 in October, the website's first, problem-plagued month.

The Health and Human Services department says in the week leading up to Dec. 24, nearly twice as many enrolled as in the first part of December.

Sunday's number is only partial, because the administration didn't provide an update on the 14 states running their own websites. California, New York, Washington, Kentucky and Connecticut have done well, but others are still struggling.